The Communist Manifesto Text Analysis

The Communist Manifesto Text Analysis
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In the book “The Communist Manifesto,” Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels reflect on the communism goals and the theory that underlies the movement. They argue that class struggles, or exploitation of one class by the other, are the forces behind the historical developments. The relationships of classes are said to be defined by means of production of a particular era. However, with time, the class relationships stop being compatible with the developing production forces. At such a point, a revolution is inevitable, and there emerges a new class that is superior to the others.
The authors argue that the proletariat is only worthy to the bourgeoisie for what they produce, and only when the labor increases their profits. This is evidenced when the book talks about: “the need for a constantly expanding market for its products chases the bourgeoisie all over the whole surface of the globe. It must nestle everywhere, settle everywhere, establish connections everywhere”. On the other hand, the authors claim that the bourgeoisie made and tied a figurative rope that will most likely dangle it. This is evident by the authors’ statement that, “but no only has the bourgeoisie forged the weapon that will bring death to itself; it has also called into existence the men who are to wield those weapons- the modern working class- the proletariat”. This is clear evidence that the proletariats were living based on the whim of the bourgeoisie.

Whenever their work was perceived to be not helpful or not profitable, they were forced to hunt for a new job.
From the analysis, it is evident that capitalism is not just personal power, but a social class power. The authors argue that the capitalists usually set the employees minimum wage at a point where the worker can only maintain his or her meager existence and keep them as mere laborers who cannot advance to the next step. This is in contrast to the communists who aim to enrich and widen the scope of the worker’s life, rather than making them suffer and be held back by the upper class.
The modern society is characterized explicitly by conflicts among the classes, especially between the proletariat and bourgeoisie. However, the capitalist forces of production are swiftly stopping to be compatible with the unequal relationship. Hence, there is a likelihood of the proletariats leading a revolution. However, the revolution may have a different character compared to the previous since the previous revolutions reallocated property based on one’s ruling class. In this case, the new ruling class was favored by being allocated more property. However, by the nature of the inferior class, the proletariats have no means of appropriating property during the process of reallocation. Therefore, when they get the chance to gain control, they will most likely abolish the proprietorship of private property, which will eventually wipe off the classes.
The Communist Manifesto points out that such a development is unavoidable, and that there was an inherent instability in capitalism. The communists aim to endorse the revolution and will encourage those associations and parties that helped in moving historical developments towards their natural inferences. They claim that the eradication of social classes in the society cannot be done through changes in the government or establishing new reforms, but rather through a revolution. The proletariat of today’s society has begun to realize that they outnumber the bourgeoisie of today, and indeed, they can act on anything they perceive to be unfair to them. Such an analysis could be the reason why America was able to elect a black president whose campaign was based on “change” during a time that the country was facing severe economic and fiscal problems. Marx and Engels seem to be a blueprint toward a new social policy if the proletariats decide to launch a social revolution.

Bibliography
Marx, Karl, and Friedrich Engels. The communist manifesto. Auckland, N.Z: Floating Press, 2008.
Marx, Karl, et al. The communist manifesto illustrated. Historical materialism. Ottawa: Red Quill Books, 2010.